16 Hot Happy Hour Deals Around DC

If You Want to Kick Back With a Few Martinis

Cucina Morini

Cucina Morini, the loud, crowded Italian newcomer in Mount Vernon Triangle, mixes up a smooth house martini, with both vodka and gin plus whiffs of white pepper, caperberries, and dill. In the bar area, it’s discounted from $14 to $7 all night Tuesday through Sunday. There are dirty, espresso, and citrusy Sicilian versions, too, plus rosemary potato chips with onion dip for $6.

Make That a Piña Colada

Colada Shop

There are six locations of Colada Shop, the colorful Cuban cafes that also serve a lineup of tasty rum drinks. Happy hour runs from 3 to 6 on weekdays and 5 to closing time on Sundays at each shop (we like the rooftop at the 14th Street corridor outpost), and that’s when you’ll find tropical cocktails such as a frothy piña colada, topped with shavings of toasted coconut, discounted to $8.

. . . Or Actually, a Margarita

Oyamel

Finding a happy-hour marg isn’t hard. But finding a great one? For that, you should hightail it to Oyamel, José Andrés’s Mexican standby in Penn Quarter. From 4 to 6 on weekdays, tequila and mezcal versions of the drink—plus a lime-“air”-topped mojito—are done right and discounted to $8 or $9 at the bar. Snacks include $5 chicken tamales and $8 pork-belly quesadillas.

Gringos & Mariachis

In the suburbs, Gringos & Mariachis features $7 specials weekdays from 3 to 6, including margaritas, sangria, and birria empanadas.

If Day-Drinking Is on the Agenda

Succotash Prime

Playing hooky? Head to the bar at Succotash Prime in Penn Quarter, where happy hour runs from 11:30 to 8 Monday through Friday and 4 to 8 Sunday. On the menu (besides discounted beers and glasses of wine): $5 rounds of pimiento-cheese hushpuppies and cornbread with sorghum butter, $2 smoked wings, and $12 plates of chicken and waffles. The National Harbor branch (186 Waterfront St., Oxon Hill) has a good happy hour, too, just not during the day.

Duke’s Grocery | Duke’s Counter

At Duke’s Grocery and Duke’s Counter, a handful of wines and beers are $7—plus there are various daily specials—from noon to 7 on weekdays.

If You Just Want to Get Sloshed

Death Punch

Death Punch, the Adams Morgan bar above a pool hall, has a traditional 5-to-7-pm happy hour with $5 rail drinks and draft beer, plus discounted wings. But the real bacchanal begins later, when $20 buys a two-hour, all-you-can-drink pass—also draft beers and rail cocktails—between 10 pm and midnight or midnight and 2 am.

If You’re Craving Pizza

Boogy & Peel

Some of our favorite pies in town are at Dupont’s fun-loving Boogy & Peel. Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30, a rotating selection are half off. (If the pepperoni pizza with salsa macha is on the menu, just say yes.) Drink specials such as $9 cocktails, 25-percent-off bottles of natural wine, and more are available Friday through Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 and Thursday from 11:30 to 9.

Stellina

Also great: the Neapolitan-inspired pizzas at Stellina.

Atlas Brew Works

There, from 4 to 6 Tuesday through Friday, $25 gets you a Negroni or spritz and a Margherita pie, plus housemade chips and other snacks. For New York–style pizza, it’s tough to beat Andy’s—and at the Alexandria location of Atlas Brew Works, two slices and a pint of beer can be had for a mere $10 Monday through Thursday from 3 to 7.

How About Some Barbecue?

Texas Jack’s

Even the whiskey sours are smoky at the Lyon Park ’cue joint Texas Jack’s.Weekdays from 4 to 7, they go for $8. Sip them alongside smoked sausage with mustard for $4, pulled-pork tacos for $6, and smoked wings or brisket sliders for $7.

If It’s Brunch

Dacha

Five-dollar mimosas, Bloodies, and Irish coffees are part of the weekend brunch deal at Shaw beer garden Dacha, from 11 am to 1 pm. Entrées come cheap, too: fried-egg-topped burgers, shakshuka, and poutine with sausage gravy are all $10. Bonus: It’s dog-friendly—complete with faux beer and “puppucinos.”

If There’s a Game to Catch

Walter’s

Navy Yard sports bar Walter’shas more than 20 TV screens, showing everything from baseball to soccer to WNBA basketball. Weeknights from 4 to 7, grab a table either indoors or on the patio and settle in for $5 specials like salmon sliders, meatballs, draft beers, and rail drinks.

If You’re Feeling Beachy

Charley Prime Foods

Okay, the Rio’s lakefront isn’t quite the lapping Atlantic Ocean, but that’s not stopping Charley Prime Foods from amping up the boardwalk vibes on weekend afternoons. Between 2 and 4, relax on the patio with $7 orange crushes, $19 buckets of Red Stripe, $2 oysters, and $10 rounds of peel-and-eat shrimp. Weekday specials—Monday from 4 to 10, Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6—include $8 gimlets, daiquiris, and other cocktails, plus a $10 half-pound burger.

This article appears in the August 2024 issue of Washingtonian.